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Hamilton, Guelph and Toronto

May and June are busy months. There are a few friends and colleagues that continue to leverage the DemoCamp brand to help engage entrepreneurs, developers, code monkeys, hackers, marketers and others. We borrowed the 6 minute format from Demo. Rather than a chinwag about new technology or industry happenings, what better way than to spend 6 minutes and have someone show you want they’ve built. It forces way from the keyboards and out into the real world. It is a strange mix of presentations, improv and being social. It’s about being connected, being proud of what you’ve been working, and having the opportunity to meet others in the community with similar interests.

The focus in Toronto has been on startups. Because this is my interest. Others are free to shape event and the format to their locale. The question of “what is your business model?” is such a silly question. Because some of the coolest presentations – hacking digital cameras – are closer to hobbies or performance art. I love the mix of new businesses, emerging technology explorations, and something closer to Maker Faire demos.

My advice, is if you are interested in seeing the great startups, hackers and makers in your city are doing you should make sure you check out a DemoCamp. And encourage Brydon and Kevin to keep doing this for their own entertainment and connection. Maybe you might want to help out

Guelph

The invited speaker is Mike McDerment, CEO and co-founder ofFreshbooks in Toronto. Mike’s a serial entrepreneur who spends a lot of time giving back to the wider community by speaking at various tech conferences as well as lecturing at Humber College. He is also a founder of Toronto based Mesh Conference. After the keynote there are 4-6 demos followed by a live band. This is a completely open event, however, there is a donation ticket to help out starving musicians and the cost of providing entertainment.

Toronto

The invited speaker is Howard Lindzon, CEO and cofounder of StockTwits in San Diego. He was one of my favourite speakers at StartupEmpire back in 2008. Howard is sharing his love of startups and early stage entrepreneurs across Canada this summer. If you miss him at DemoCamp, make sure you catch him at StartupFestival in Montreal or Grow Conference in Vancouver. The demo lineup and tickets are being finalized this week.